Joseph a



(No Model.)

J.A.G'ARNEAU.

CORSET.

No..603,843. Patented May 1 0,'1898.-

INVENTOH W/TNESSES: I

ATTORNEY;

mi: NORRIS pzrzws co mom-man WASHINGTON, u. c,

respect the invention is hygienic in its charvided with an uprightmarginal band or strip of Great Britain, residing at St. Rochs, (Que-.reside.

lTF A'IES JOSEPH A. GARNEAU, OF ST. ROOI-IS, CANADA.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,843, dated May 10,1898. Application filed November 16, 1897. Serial No. 658,671. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH A. GARNEAU, physician and surgeon, a subjectof the Queen bec,) in the district and Province of Quebec, in theDominion of Canada, have invented certain Improvements in Corsets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to corsets for women; and it has for its object,broadly speaking, to provide a corset which will conform to the body ofthe wearer and support it properly in contradistinction to one whichforces the body into conformity with it and in doing this tends to causeundue pressure on the internal organs and often to cause actualdisplacement of some of these organs. In this act-er.

The object sought is effected bya peculiar construction and arrangementof the parts of the corset, and in this construction and arrangement thenovel features of the invention In the accompanying drawings, whichillustrate an embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a front view ofthe corset, broken away in part to better illustrate the construction.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the corset. Fig. 3 is a perspective rearView of the same. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale,showing the arrangement of the steels in the upright marginal strip atat the back.

The corset is composed, as usual in corsets, of two like sections orhalves joined together along upright lines in front and at the back.Therefore the description of the details of construction of one halfwill serve equally well for the other.

Down the front of the corset from top to bottom extend two strips ormarginal bands at a, one on the margin of each half, and these stripsare provided each with a series or row of hooks b, the hooks in oneseries being arranged opposite to those in the other, as seen in Fig. 1.A lacing tape or cord 0 serves to secure the two halves of the corsettogether down the front by engagement with said hooks, as clearly shownin Fig. 1. At the back the two halves of the corset are each prod, Figs.2, 3, and 4, provided with eyelets to receive an elastic lacing-cord e.

I will now more minutely describe the construction of one of the halvesof the corset, which, as before stated, are alike, so that a descriptionof one will suffice for both.

The front upright marginal strip or band a has pocketed in itslowerpartastrip of springsteel f, whioh extends from the bottom edge ofthe corset up to the point 00, which, as seen in Fig. 2, is about thepoint of greatest projection of the corset at the front. The steel f isnormally curved or has a set curvature to fit over the lower portion ofthe abdomen, and the strip a' is made to conform from the upper end ofthe steel f to the top of the corset with the curvature of the front ofthe body of the wearer. This stripv may have pocketed in it a whale boneor bones, if desired, the same extending from the steel f to the top ofthe corset.

The upright marginal strip or band d at the back, Figs. 3 and 4, has aspecial curvature to fit it to the form of the wearers body, as bestseen in Figs. 2 and 3, and this curvature is produced by pocketing insaid strip or band three strips 9, Fig. 4, of steel, arranged side byside and having a set form of the proper curvature. These strips 9should be strong and quite rigid, so as to enable them to retain theirshape and brace the back of the wearer.

The body of each corset-half has at its lower edge abroad piece h, whichextends across the hip from a front upright strip a to the back, thispiece being widest at its extremities and hollowed at its. upper edge,so as to be narrowest at the middle. The top of the piece it in front,where it joins the strip a, is about on the same level as the upper endof the steel f. Above the piece his another piece 2, also extending froma strip a to a point at the back where the waist merges into the hip.This piece is widest at its ends and is hollowed at its lower side, thespindle-shaped space between it and the strip h being filled with a gorej. These three pieces, 77., c, and j,

give to the body of the corset the proper curvaweight off from the partsof the body in front and at the back and avoiding the depression of theabdomen and consequent displacement of the internal organs thereincontained.

On the inner face of that part of the body composed of the pieces h, 'i,and j is secured a band in, of thin elastic fabric, which extends overthe hip from the upright strip at at the back, Where it terminates atthe waist, to the strip a at the front, where it terminates at thebottom of the corset. This band may be from one and one-half to twoinches wide, and it serves to strengthen the fabric over the hip and byits elasticity to cause it to conform to the body the better.

Above the piece 1 the body of the corset is formed of upright pieces,Fig. 2, m, 01, 0,1), g, and r, cut as to lateral dimensions andcurvature to make the corset conform in shape to the contour of the bodyit embraces and to support it. The three pieces n, 0, and p at the side,by their special form or cut, as best seen in Fig. 2, directly oppose orresist all pressure of the corset at the front. They have the effect toplace in a rational manner that is to say, at the backthe point ofsupport, which is placed in front in most, if not all, the corsets nowin use.

The corset may be made up of any of the ordinary materials or fabricsused in the manufacture of corsets.

It will be understood, of course, that I do not broadly claim uprightmarginal bands at the front and rear edges of the halves of the corsetnor the making up of a corset of pieces cut to give form to the corset;but I claim for my corset that it has a special form which conforms tothat of the human body, and that because of this conformity it producesno injurious compression on the internal organs, such as the lungs,liver, stomach, intestines, &c.; also, that by the cut and arrangementof the several pieces an abdominal support is provided, which isimportant in nearly all cases.

The quilting of the fabric is shown at the right in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, but omitted at the left, so as to show the construction themore clearly.

Fig. 4 shows clearly the steels g in the strips d at the back. I

It will be noted that this corset has no front steels or busks such asare commonly found in corsets, the front strips or being left flexibleor pliable except as to their lower parts, where they are made stilf andrigid up to Having thus described my invention, I

claim 1. A corset without front busks, having on each half or section anupright, flexible, marginal band a, at its front edge, provided with ashort and normally stiflf curved steel f, at its lower part only andterminating above at about the point of greatest projection of thecorset to the front, said steel fitting about the lower portion of theabdomen, substantially as set forth.

2. A corset having in each half a hip portion formed of the pieces h and45, extending over the hip from rear to front, and the intermediategorej, of spindle shape, as shown, between and secured to the pieces hand 'i, said double-pointed or spindle-shaped gore being in position torest on and fit over the point of the hip, substantially as set forth.

3. A corset having in each of its halves a hip portion composed of thepieces h and i, and the intermediate spindle-shaped gore j, all securedtogether, said hip portion extending over the hip from rear tofront, andan elastic band 70, under said hip portion, said band extending from thewaist-line at the back to the bottom of the corset in front, passingover the hip, and being free to stretch, substantially as set forth.

4. A corset having in each of its halves an upright marginal band a, infront having in its lower part a short steel f, with a set curvature, anupright marginal band (1, at the back, having steels g, with a setcurvature, extending their entire length, a hip-piece h, widest at itsends and extending from one to the other of said marginal bands, a piece1, over the hip and extending from one to the other of said bands, aspindle-shaped intermediate gore j, between the pieces h and 2', andthese pieces and the gore secured together at their edges, the uprightpieces m, n, 0, p, q and r, of the contour shown, forming the body abovethe waist, and means for closing the corset at the front and back,substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH A. GARNEAU.

\Vitnesses:

Louis DALLAIRE, DAVID RAcINE.

ICO

